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For any enterprise that wants to provide a secure and scalable shared workspace for geographically disparate project teams then the EMC Documentum eRoom Family [2] of products release 7.4 provides an integrated solution that provides many benefits. The EMC website [1] provides an overview of the five components in their Documentum eRoom family that together provide a fully integrated system for online collaborative workgroups. The whole family comprises a suite of products that cover many of the areas that are out lined as essential features for successful enterprise online collaboration in the White Paper prepared by the Gilbane Group [3] Collaboration and Social Media-2008 [4]. Features such as (a) Secure shared workspace (b) Secure storage for shared rich content including, images, audio and documents, (c) Ability to run on intranet or secure hosted website that can run outside of the corporate firewall to allow external partners to join the group, (d) eRooms can be organised on a project basis each with their own workspace that can incorporate user access privileges, (e) Notifications and integrated IM and (f) Project management tools. The modules included in the Documentum eRoom Family include: eRoom - Web based collaborative workspace eRoom Enterprise - Combines the eRoom capability of a collaborative work space with the power of the EMC content management tools. eRoom Real-Time Services - Combines eRoom workspace with real time conferencing tools such as real time meetings, presentations and whiteboard sessions. eRoom Viewer -Team access to Microsoft Project Management tools. eRoom .Net - The functionality of the eRoom environment nut within a hosted web environment. References [1] EMC Corporation. (2010). EMC. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from EMC: http://www.emc.com/utilities/globalsiteselect.jhtml?checked=true [2] EMC Corporation. (2010). EMC Documentum eRoom Family. Retrieved April 10, 2010, from EMC: http://www.emc.com/products/family/er

Documentum eRoom provides a "web-based collaborative workspace for distributed teams" [1]. Additions to Documentum eRoom include real time services, collaboration management capabilities, Microsoft Project compatibility and a secure online shared environment. The eRoom Family of software has been a major player in the field of collaboration over the last ten years. EMC released a document about what they regard as their top 10 tips regarding what a SMB (medium to small businesses) should look for when considering web-based collaboration software. This document can be located at http://www.retrospect.com/assets/Top10_WebCollab_en.pdf. So how does EMC's very own software hold up these top 10 tips? DLA Piper Rudnick is mostly a US based law firm, forty offices, which required an easy and secure method to collaborate online. "The verdict: use of EMC's Documentum eRoom, a web-based collaboration platform that allows for secure information sharing" [2]. DLA Piper was deciding between Lotus QuickPlace and Documentum eRoom and stated that eRoom scored the battle because "eRoom's functionality and ease of use won out" [2]. EMC's top 10 tips echo this statement; "workspaces that are easy to manage" and "collaboration software should be flexible" [3]. However, even though eRoom has a proven history of being reliable software, they faced a new battle of collaboration-software competition.

Although Documentum eRoom and the rest of the family can live up to the top 10 tips, it may however, suffer a loss at the nature of technology. eRoom lacks compatibility with Web 2.0 tools such as "blogs, RSS and wikis" [5]. In an effort to keep up with technology EMC created "Centre Stage: moving beyond collaboration" [4]. In addition, the popularity of Microsoft's SharePoint has increased competition between the two products with companies migrating from eRoom. With such competition, a free version called CentreStage Essentials was released: the"version is a "limited" release of CenterStage. It does include storing documents in folder and attachment boxes like in eRoom, plus a few other features. There is no charge for this version" [5]. eRoom might still be the best suited software for many businesses, but with technology advances happening continually, it may also mean that for any new businesses delving into new collaboration software it could be a good idea to read up on Microsoft's Sharepoint 2010 or CentreStage. References/Notes [1] Details from http://www.emc.com/products/detail/software/eroom.htm [accessed April 8, 2010]. [2] Chen, A., (2007). Law firm makes case for eRoom, http://www.emc.com/collateral/analyst-reports/0307-eweel-law-firm.pdf, eWeek: The enterprise weekly, Issue: March 28, 2007 [accessed April 8, 2010]. [3] EMC. Top Ten Tips for Web-based Collaboration in SMBs, http://www.retrospect.com/assets/Top10_WebCollab_en.pdf [accessed April 6, 2010]. [4] OpenVine, Migrating from eRoom to CentreStage, http://www.openvine.com/downloads/eRoomCenterStageMigration.pdf [accessed April 9, 2010]. [5] OpenVine Web Solutions and Consulting, experts in best eRoom practices, the eRoom blog, http://blog.openvine.com/?m=200905 [accessed April 9, 2010].

"Your information is one of your most strategic assets. You can count on EMC to keep innovating ways to store, protect, optimize, and leverage information, all with the aim of contributing to your ongoing success." (Joe Tucci, Chairman, President and CEO of EMC) EMC insignia is a company that provides IT solutions, support and training to a worldwide audience. Amongst the commercial side of EMC, they also provide valuable advice on many topics that can be discussed and used to enhance small and medium business (SMB) growth. The document in focus concerns EMC's top 10 tips for online collaboration for SMB's. These 10 tips may help SMB's in selecting what kind of collaboration software is best suited to the company. The document is in PDF format and located at http://www.retrospect.com/assets/Top10_WebCollab_en.pdf . A brief interpretation of the PDF is below, for the full article refer to the link immediately above. EMC's Top 10 Tips in Brief 1. Workspaces should be simple and easy to setup and manage. Workplace setup should be a quick process with limited IT involvement. 2. Avoid collaboration software that creates multiple points within workspaces. Locating a document should not be confusing or misleading. 3. Select the software that provides tools to deliver and work on assignments in real time. "Managers must be able to assign owners, create tasks, set milestones, establish deadlines, and track the progress of tasks" [1]. 4. Avoid collaboration software that requires workspaces to have custom coding or IT development. Instead, allow for software that provides an easy design.

5. Go for collaboration software that gives managers constant visibility across several projects. 6. Choose software that provides a secure way to manage external teams- including partners or suppliers. 7. Ensure the collaboration software has web-based workspaces so that geographic location and time zones do not become an issue. 8. The software must be secure and protection settings easily managed. 9. Keep in mind what level of internal workspace security is required - should permissions be at folder level or file level? Make sure the collaboration software suits the internal security levels of the business. 10. Collaborative software should be cost effective, consider company growth and tolerate a mixture of operating systems, various browser types and email clients. The strength of EMC's tips is that they can be applied to many web-based collaboration products on the market and are clearly suited towards SMB's. However, this implies that the list may not be extensive enough to relate to large firms. Overall, EMC's tips offer a starting point for what to look for when selecting collaboration software for businesses. References/Notes [1] EMC. Top Ten Tips for Web-based Collaboration in SMBs, http://www.retrospect.com/assets/Top10_WebCollab_en.pdf [accessed April 6, 2010].